Devil Hunter to Vampire
by reptilia28
Summary: After the destruction of Yokai Academy, the Exorcist decides to have Tsukune and his friends be trained in case the remnants of ANTI-THESIS returns for vengeance. And who better to train them than a certain silver-haired, red-coated devil hunter?
1. Chapter 1

A new story to ring in the New Year! This takes place post-Chapter 38 of Season 1 of the R+V manga and DMC4.

I do not own Rosario + Vampire or Devil May Cry

* * *

Somewhere in a dimension separate from Earth, there was a school that sought to teach young monsters how to integrate into human society. In an office in the highest tower of this school was the headmaster of the establishment, a being by the name of Tenmei Mikogami, better known simply as the Exorcist.

Mikogami was not a being known to be quick to anger. What he did experience however was annoyance, and annoyed was how he felt when he read the latest damage report for Yokai Academy. A former staff member by the name of Hitomi Ishigami had smuggled a dangerous magical artifact into the school as a bid at revenge for being fired after she was caught turning several of her students into stone. The artifact in question forced a monster to reveal his true nature; the mass unveiling of everyone's forms had caused old racial tensions to boil up, which along with the violent subduing of Ishigami caused millions of yen in property damage as well as several deaths. Furthermore, while the chaotic group known as ANTI-THESIS had been disbanded over a month previous, the whereabouts of its masterminds Hokuto Kaneshiro and Kiria Yoshii was still unknown; this meant that it would only be a matter of time before they tried to expose the world of youkai to humans again.

While Mikogami had the means to repair the damage dealt to his school, he would be forced to send his students home months early in order to do so, as well as explain to several parents why their sons and daughters were now dead, a task that he did not look forward to. As he set down the report, his eyes fell on a stack of folders that he had noted as "Special Interest." Picking up the top folder, the white-robed being opened it to reveal the profile of a student named Tsukune Aono. Within the file was the boy's essential information along with a detailed list of his various exploits while attending Yokai Academy. Closing the file he set it back where it was before, resting on top of the files for the various girls that flocked around him.

This led to another problem: Now that Tsukune and his "harem" had more-or-less dismantled ANTI-THESIS, they had placed themselves as high-value targets for Hokuto and Kiria's wrath. While the group had demonstrated quite admirably during the past few weeks that they could handle themselves, they were still teenagers, and while undeniably powerful they lacked formal training to fully harness that power. Tsukune was a particularly vulnerable target as unlike his friends and peers, he had all the power and foreboding presence of an average human so long as the Rosario on his wrist kept his newly-acquired Ghoul nature contained. As Mikogami considered who would be both skilled and powerful enough to effectively train his students, his thoughts drifted to one particular individual; a man that he had not spoken to for nearly twenty years but still kept track of for old times' sake. _Yes_, he thought to himself with a grin, _he'll do perfectly_.

* * *

A few hours later in Limbo City, Washington, a young woman by the name of Patty Lowell was sweeping the street in front of a building bearing the name _**Devil May Cry**_. Ever since she had been saved from demons by Dante, the building's owner five years ago, the girl had found herself cleaning up after the man in a vain effort to keep his home and place of business from looking like a frat house; her only consolation was now that she was older, she could get paid for her efforts.

Her work was interrupted by a school bus suddenly appearing before her. _That's strange_, she thought to herself, _I didn't even hear it coming_. The bus doors opened to let out a Japanese woman a few inches taller than Patty herself, wearing a long dress with a pink corset and her hair done in a pair of handlebar-style ponytails.

"Hello," the woman said in clear, though accented English as she bowed slightly. "Is Dante here?" she asked. _Ah, a customer_, Patty thought.

"I'm sorry, but he's out right now," the blond teenager apologized. "But please, come in and have a seat," she continued, setting aside her broom and opening the door for her. Thanking her, the woman stepped in and sat down in the beat-up couch within the main area of the place. "Can I get you anything? Water, coffee?" Patty asked, playing the part of the gracious host.

"Tea if it's no trouble," the woman requested. Giving a thumbs-up, Patty went into the kitchen to prepare the order. While she did that, the woman took in her surroundings.

Ruby Toujo did not know what to expect when Mikogami had ordered her to meet this Dante person. The headmaster had told her that Dante was someone who would help Tsukune and his friends to grow stronger, but was otherwise vague on details. The witch fidgeted uncomfortably as she felt a strange energy pressing down from all around her; it was similar to Moka's vampiric aura when her seal was removed, but was at the same time different. Her attention was also drawn to the numerous weapons that lined the walls, along with a desiccated…_thing_ hanging from the wall like a trophy, not a human corpse but also unlike any youkai that she had ever seen before.

"Here you go," Patty said as she offered Ruby a steaming mug of tea. Thanking the girl, the older woman took the offered cup and sipped the hot brew contained within. As the teenager drank from a bottle of soda, Ruby noted that she seemed unbothered by both the aura and the corpse suspended from the wall behind her, so she was either oblivious to them or was here so often that she had become used to their presence; the witch was unsure of what to think of either of those possibilities. Her thoughts were interrupted when Patty spoke again. "So, how'd you hear about Dante?" the blond girl asked conversationally.

"My m…_employer_," Ruby said, cutting herself off before she said "master," knowing that humans tended to view such relationships with oddity, "spoke of Dante. He seemed to believe that Dante could help us with something." As Patty nodded in semi-interest, a low rumbling could be heard from outside.

"Speak of the devil, there he is," the teenager said as she stood up. "Please excuse me," she added as she stepped outside. Ruby could not hear the conversation through the closed doors, though Patty quickly came back inside. "He'll be just a minute," she said in assurance as she ran into the bathroom and then went back outside with a towel in hand, all the while Ruby heard splashing and running water coming from outside. A few minutes later, Patty came in with a wet towel in hand along with a second figure. It was a man towering over six feet in height and dressed in black pants and shirt along with a blood-red trench coat; his wet silver hair hung limply just past his eyes. Clinging to his back by an unknown force was a broadsword almost as long as he was tall. Removing it with an ease unexpected from such a cumbersome weapon, he leaned the sword against his desk and sat down, linking his fingers together behind his head.

"So, how can I help you on this fine day?" he asked, leaning back in his chair comfortably. Ruby got up from the couch and settled down in the seat directly opposite from Dante, setting her mug of tea down on the desk.

"My name is Ruby Toujo," the witch introduced herself, "and I come from Yokai Academy." This seemed to catch Dante's attention as he straightened himself in his chair.

"Did you say 'Yokai?'" he asked. When Ruby nodded, Dante turned to his blond helper. "Patty, how 'bout you take the rest of today off?" he asked. Though the teenager was confused about the offer, she was not about to deny a free day, so she shrugged left, leaving the witch and half-devil alone. "Yokai," he said with a sigh. "That's a name that I haven't heard in a long time. Tell me, how's the old coot doing these days?" he asked. Ruby scowled slightly at the disrespect that Dante displayed, but responded nonetheless.

"He is well," she said. "In fact, he wants me to bring you to Yokai Academy to speak to him personally." Dante frowned at the suggestion.

"And how long would I be gone for this talk?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ruby said honestly, shrugging to emphasize her point. Dante supported his head on his thumbs while he considered the witch's offer.

"All right, I'll go," he finally said. He could leave the shop unattended for a few days, he reasoned to himself. "I'm gonna need a minute to lock up, though," he added.

"Of course," Ruby said as she stood up. "I'll be waiting for you outside," she continued as she left the building. With a heavy sigh Dante stood up and stepped around his desk. Grabbing an empty guitar case, he placed his sword Rebellion inside and closed the case; though he carried his trusty sword everywhere he went, he was still going to a school, and there was no point in scaring the students unnecessarily with a giant sword sticking to his back.

After checking to ensure that he had everything he needed, Dante exited his shop and locked the front door before turning to see Ruby standing before a familiar bus. Stepping up to the doors, the devil hunter set down his guitar case and bowed deeply.

"After you, my lady," he said. Despite her earlier annoyance at the hunter for his flippancy concerning the Exorcist, Ruby could not help but crack a smile at his current antics and stepped into the vehicle, Dante following close behind.

"Long time no see, kid," the Bus Driver greeted Dante, his ever-present cigar clenched firmly between his teeth.

"Right back at ya," the silver-haired man replied. Chuckling, the Bus Driver closed the doors and revved the vehicle's engine, driving around the neighborhood and back onto the main highway. As they passed through a tunnel, the world outside briefly turned into a swirl of color before the bus exited the tunnel, revealing a forest of dead trees next to a cliff that dropped into a crimson sea.

"Welcome back to Yokai Academy," the Bus Driver announced as he opened the bus doors. With a nod of thanks, Dante grabbed his guitar case and stepped off, Ruby following close behind him.

"I'm guessing that you were an alumnus of this school?" she asked as they walked the forest path to the school proper.

"Ehh, not really," Dante said with a shrug. "I came here once, a _long_ time ago. The high school environment wasn't for me, though, so I dropped out after the first year," he explained. No further words were exchanged between the two as they made their way to the headmaster's office. Conversations were silenced as the two passed, the students sensing something _off_ about the newcomer. Dante heard hushed words wondering if he was a vampire, to which he rolled his eyes in amusement. Soon, they found themselves in the office of the Exorcist.

"Thank you," he said to Ruby. "If you could give us a moment alone please," he continued with an order disguised as a request. Bowing her head, Ruby followed her master's orders without comment, leaving the two men alone. "It's been a long time, Dante," Mikogami said, "or do you still prefer to go by Tony?"

"Nah, Dante's fine," the hunter said as he sat down. "And it's nice to see you too. Now, what sort of job do you need me for?"

"There are several students here that have attracted the ire of some less-than-pleasant individuals," Mikogami explained. "Due to some recent events, I have to send the students home early, so I was hoping that you would take them home with you and train them."

"Look," Dante sighed, "I don't know what you've heard about me or what I do, but I don't run a babysitting service."

"These students can take care of themselves," the Exorcist assured the devil hunter, "they simply lack the knowledge and discipline to fully utilize their strength. I have been keeping a close eye on your exploits, Dante, and I have every confidence that you will be the perfect teacher for them."

"While I appreciate the vote of confidence," Dante responded, "I don't think I can handle a bunch of people living under my roof. I can barely feed myself, let alone a bunch of teenagers."

"You would be duly compensated, of course," Mikogami countered as he produced a pen and a piece of paper from his robes. "In fact, here is my payment offer," he continued, writing a number on the paper and handing it to Dante. The half-devil took the paper and read it, his eyes widening in shock. "I believe that that amount is enough to cover all your debts?" the Exorcist asked.

"Umm…uhh…yeah," Dante stammered, still stunned by the offer. _And then some_, he mentally added. After recovering from the shock, he asked, "So, how many people again?"

"Five students, plus Miss Toujo will be accompanying you as well," Mikogami said, sliding a brown folder three inches thick towards Dante. "I've taken the liberty of compiling relevant information for all six individuals; a little light reading, if you will. The students will be sent home tomorrow, so I believe that it is best if you spent the night here so they would go home with you," he suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds all right," Dante said in acceptance.

"Excellent," Mikogami said. "Miss Toujo will show you to where you'll be sleeping tonight. It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Dante," he continued as the silver-haired hunter stood up.

"Likewise," the half-devil replied as he grabbed his guitar case in one hand and the folder in the other. "One other thing though," he said. "Why these kids? What's so special about them?"

"Like I said," Mikogami responded, "they are powerful, and have made equally powerful enemies; I wish to protect them. And besides," he added with a mischievous grin, "I find their adventures amusing." Unable to respond to that, Dante gave a slight bow of respect before he exited the office, finding Ruby there waiting for him.

"Please follow me," the witch beckoned. "Our staff recently had an opening, so you'll be staying in the faculty dorms tonight," Ruby said as she led him to his room. Eventually she stopped in front of a door. "Here we are," she said.

"Thank you," Dante said as he set down his guitar case to open the door. "So, I'll be seeing you tomorrow then?" he asked.

"Yes," Ruby replied with a bow. "Good night, Dante-san," she said before leaving. With a muttered "'night" in response, Dante stepped into his room and shut the door. Deciding that he should study up on his soon-to-be housemates, Dante flicked on a light and opened the folder to the first profile.

_Akashiya, Moka_….

* * *

I'm going to be needing a beta for this story, so if anyone's interested in being a beta, please let me know! It would mostly be for the R+V aspect of it.

Don't forget to review!


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Rosario + Vampire or Devil May Cry.

* * *

Tsukune Aono gave a deep sigh. Today was the day when he and all the other students of Yokai Academy would be returned home while the school was repaired. Though he had initially intimidating – okay, terrifying would be a better description – he had come to enjoy the school and its quirks. He would also deeply miss the friends that he had made during his time here.

"Tsukune!" a female voice called out behind him. The boy turned around to see one of those friends running towards him. Moka Akashiya was Tsukune's first friend at the Academy and was, both in his personal opinion as well as general consensus, the most beautiful girl on campus. Her long, pink hair and her skirt fluttered in the wind as she ran to Tsukune and wrapped her arms tightly around him, much to the jealous outrage of every male observer present.

As Moka nuzzled into his neck and inhaled deeply, he fought the urge to sigh as he predicted what would be coming next.

"Tsukune's scent is so sweet," she sighed. "Could I have just a little?" she asked, gazing into his eyes pleadingly. Unable to deny her, Tsukune tilted his head to one side to expose his neck. "Oh thank you!" she cheered before eagerly chomping down on his neck. A few seconds later, Moka released him, her thirst satisfied for the time being. "Tsukune's blood is so delicious!" she said happily; the boy in question merely laughed weakly while holding his hand to the bruise on his neck.

"Tsukune!" another voice cried out. He instinctively turned around and immediately had his vision and oxygen supply cut off by a pair of soft, yellow mounds. "Oh Tsukune, I don't know how I'm going to survive so long without you!" Kurumu Kurono cried as she held Tsukune's face into her ample bosom. A metallic clang rang out as a heavy brass pan fell on top of Kurumu's head, forcing her to release Tsukune.

"Stop suffocating my Tsukune with your enormous boobs!" Yukari Sendo said over Tsukune's desperate gasps for air. Kurumu stood up and marched over to the young witch, a large welt growing from her head where the pan had hit her.

"_Your_ Tsukune?" the blue-haired girl sneered. "Like he'd ever fall for someone as flat-chested as you," she continued, poking Yukari in the chest to emphasize her point.

"Ha!" the younger girl retorted. "Tsukune would be better off with a youthful figure like mine, not someone who's constantly trying to kill him!" Kurumu's response was cut off as both she and Yukari were encased in ice.

"You're both wrong," Mizore Shirayuki said coolly as she stepped out from behind a tree. With a snap of her fingers, the two ice blocks shattered, leaving her rivals shivering. "Tsukune needs someone who can devote themselves to him fully, like me," she said. The three girls delved into another argument as to who would be best for the target of their affections while Moka helped Tsukune remain standing while he caught his breath.

The impromptu catfight was interrupted by a shrill whistle. All present turned their heads towards the source of the annoying sound and saw Ruby along with a man that they did not recognize. He stood taller than virtually everyone present; he wore a distinctive red leather coat and had a guitar case in his hand. The man's silver hair and aura of monstrous power brought images of Moka's unsealed form into the minds of Tsukune and his friends. Was this man a vampire as well?

"Good morning, everyone!" Ruby greeted cheerfully. "Could I speak to you all in private for a minute?" she asked. When the group gave general murmurs of acceptance, the witch led them to the cemetery and away from the crowd, her companion following close behind.

"What's going on, Ruby-san?" Tsukune asked.

"In a minute," the witch replied with a mysterious smile. "But first, this is Dante-san," she continued, gesturing to Dante, who was sitting on a gravestone. "He is an acquaintance of the headmaster."

"Hey," he quipped as he waved a hand in greeting.

"As you know, many, many things have happened lately," Ruby said. "But the point is, you won't be going home today." For several seconds, the students merely stared at her in stunned silence.

"_What?_" they finally shouted as one.

"Why?" Yukari asked, tears beginning to well up in her eyes at the thought of not seeing her parents.

"The headmaster believes that since you destroyed ANTI-THESIS, then you may be in danger of Hokuto and Kiria retaliating, especially you, Tsukune," Ruby explained. Tsukune rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he was reminded that unlike his friends, he was not a youkai. "The six of us will be staying with Dante-san until the school reopens so that he can train you to better use your powers in combat," Ruby continued to explain.

_**I do not need training**_, Moka's prideful inner self stated as she observed the conversation through her Rosario; however, her outer self did not relay this sentiment to the others.

"So let me get this straight," Kurumu said. "We're all going to be staying together until the school is fixed?"

"Yes," Ruby replied with a nod. Kurumu began to quiver with barely contained excitement.

"Yahoo!" the succubus cheered, ecstatic at the thought of spending the whole summer with Tsukune. She began to jump around eagerly, causing her impressive bust to bounce. Her antics were cut off with another pan to the head courtesy of Yukari, and Tsukune could have sword he heard a quiet grunt of disapproval come from Dante.

"So when are we leaving?" Mizore asked as she sucked on her ever-present lollipop. Ruby pulled out a pocket watch from a pocket on her dress and checked the time.

"Oh my," she gasped as she saw the time. "We leave now, I suppose." The group of seven hurried to the bus stop and stepped in. The vehicle was nearly full so Tsukune and the girls had to sit in the back while Dante sat a few rows away. This arrangement was fine with the students as it allowed them to discuss their soon-to-be host without his hearing.

"What kind of monster do you think this Dante guy is?" Kurumu whispered to her friends, just loud enough to be heard over the cacophony of a dozen conversations occurring at once.

"Kurumu!" Moka exclaimed, scandalized at her friend's bold question. "That's rude!" Disregarding the rules of Yokai Academy forbidding the rule of revealing one's true form, it was widely considered rude to ask someone what their true form was while disguised. Even though Dante seemed affable enough, if a bit perverted if Tsukune's previous observation was accurate, they did not wish to offend him by asking about something so personal.

"What? It's not like he's trying very hard to hide the fact that he's not human!" the blue-haired succubus hissed in response. The pink-haired vampire could not help but admit the truth to her Kurumu's statement.

"His aura is similar to Inner Moka's," Mizore observed. "He even kind of looks like her, with the silver hair and all. Maybe he's a distant cousin of yours, Moka?" the snow woman asked.

"I don't think so," Moka said with a shake of her head. "He had an American accent, and I don't know of any relations that far west."

"Then what else could he be?" Yukari wondered. "He's clearly a Class-S monster, but I don't know of anything other than a vampire that has that power as well as silver hair," the child genius said as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"His hair _could_ be dyed," Tsukune pointed out.

"Good point," Kurumu said as she mimicked Yukari's chin-rubbing.

"I'm not a vampire," Dante said suddenly, immediately causing all conversation on the bus to stop. He turned to face the five students, who seemed to be frozen in shock that he had heard them. "I did meet a vampire once, though," he added as he turned back to a normal sitting position. Tsukune and his friends looked at the devil hunter in shock that he had heard them over the noise of so many others speaking despite their hushed tones, along with feeling slightly ashamed that the subject of their conversation had overheard them. For much of the remainder of the journey, the five remained silent. As the other students disembarked to return home, eventually the seven of them were the only ones remaining.

"D-Dante-san?" Moka asked nervously. Dante turned to face her and hummed in acknowledgement. "You said that you met a vampire once before," she said, to which Dante nodded in affirmation. "May I ask whom?" Moka wondered if she had heard of the vampire that Dante had met; due to their longevity, the vampire community was relatively small.

"Her name was Nevan," the half-devil replied. "She was hot, but I didn't appreciate her sucking my blood too much," he continued as he rubbed his neck. Tsukune gave a nervous chuckle at Dante's last comment. Moka frowned as she did not recognize the name; Kurumu on the other hand seemed to as she had a look of shock on her face.

"Did you say 'Nevan?'" she gasped.

"Yeah," Dante responded, unsure as to the reason for her reaction.

"Kurumu-san?" Tsukune asked in concern; apparently, the girl's friends had the same thought.

"Nevan is said to be the most powerful and beautiful succubus to ever live," the blue-haired girl explained. "Her seductive powers were legendary, and she was infamous for her mastery over the power of electricity. But she disappeared mysteriously around two thousand years ago, so how could you have met her?" she asked Dante.

"She and I happened to be in the same place at the same time," Dante said with a shrug. "She was in my way, so we fought. She put up a good fight, but I won in the end." The buxom teenager gaped at Dante in a mixture of awe and fear. Who was this man to be able to defeat the great Nevan and speak so casually about it?

A few minutes later, the bus had stopped and its driver announced that they had reached their destination. Grabbing his guitar case, Dante was the first to step out of the vehicle, followed by Ruby and the students. As Dante went to unlock the doors, the students looked up and the large, inactive neon sign that displayed the name of the shop.

"Welcome to Devil May Cry," Dante said as he held the door open. "Please, come in," he added. The five students and Ruby stepped into the shop, feeling the latent energy envelop them. The teenagers looked around nervously at the weapons that decorated the walls of the shop, and Moka screamed when she saw the corpse hanging from the wall.

"What is that?" Tsukune cried out. Dante turned to see what they were looking at.

"That? That's just a Hell Sloth," he said dismissively as he set his guitar case down and opened it, pulling out Rebellion. Everyone stepping back as Dante casually waved the enormous sword around, the devil hunter leaned Rebellion against his desk and sat down in his chair. "Okay, a couple ground rules," he said as he set his feet up on his desk. "One, this is my home and place of business, so you do what I say when I say it. Two, upstairs there is a door with a big yellow 'Hazardous Materials' sign on it; do not touch anything in that room. I don't care if you poke your head inside, but everything in that room is very valuable and very dangerous, so look but don't touch. Any questions?" Everyone was too shocked and frightened of the man to do anything more than shake their heads. "Good. Kitchen's over there, bathroom's in the back, I never use the master bedroom, so you can use that and the spare room upstairs," he said. "Make yourselves at home." As the teenagers looked at each other in confusion as to what to do next, Ruby stepped up to the desk.

"Dante-san?" the witch asked.

"Hmm?" Dante hummed as he leaned back in his chair, apparently preparing to take a nap.

"When will you begin training?" Ruby questioned.

"I was thinking tomorrow," Dante said with a shrug. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I believe that it would be best if we began as soon as possible," the black-haired witch said. Dante stared at her through half-lidded eyes for several seconds before he gave a petulant sigh and straightened himself up.

"All right kids, let's go on a field trip," he said as he stood up and grabbed Rebellion, sticking the sword to his back. After everyone had exited the shop and Dante locked up, they followed the man to his car. "I'm not too sure how we're going to all fit in my car, though," Dante said as he placed Rebellion in the trunk.

"Kurumu and I can both fly," Ruby informed the devil hunter, "and I can cast a spell that would make us invisible to humans." Dante flashed a look at her as if he did not entirely believe her, but gave a shrug of acquiescence and climbed into the driver's seat; Tsukune chose the passenger's seat while the three non-flying girls piled into the back. Kurumu and Ruby both unfurled their wings before the witch waved her wand, causing both of them to fade from vision. Dante gave a mildly-impressed nod before throwing the car in reverse and backing out of the parking lot stall and driving off.

The foreigners gazed in awe as they watched the unfamiliar landscape whiz by. Almost two hours had passed before they finally reached the Capitol State Forest. After ensuring that there were no witnesses around, Ruby cancelled the invisibility spell on herself and Kurumu. Grabbing Rebellion from the trunk, Dante led his students into the forest. They quickly stepped off the established hiking path and walked through the thick brush for another half an hour before they finally reached their destination: A wall of chain-link fence twenty feet high with razor wire coiled around the top. The sole gate was bound by a heavy chain and padlock and sported a sign declaring:** GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, ABSOLUTELY NO TRESSPASSING**. Ignoring the warning sign, Dante used a key to unlock the padlock and removed the chain.

"Are you sure that this is legal?" Tsukune asked as he looked around nervously, fearing that armed soldiers would pop out of the bushes the moment they stepped foot inside.

"It better be, I own this land," Dante responded nonchalantly as threw open the gates.

"Really?" Ruby asked in surprise; it was her understanding that the devil hunter was quite heavily in debt.

"Yep," he quipped. "As thanks for my continued service to safeguard humanity, the fine state of Washington has granted me one square mile of woodland for my own personal enjoyment," he said cheerfully. "Unfortunately, that gratitude doesn't extend to the seven-digit debt I owe them," he grumbled under his breath. He led the group to a relatively clear area in the center of his personal area. "Miss Toujo, I need to speak to you for a minute in private," Dante said as he pulled Ruby away from the others. The teenagers silently wondered what sort of training the half-devil had in store for them as he and the tall witch continued their private conversation. After a minute, the two adults returned. Dante stepped forward several paces and turned to face his students, drawing Rebellion.

"All right, here's the deal," the devil hunter said. "Your boss is paying me to make you the best fighters that you can be in the short amount of time that I have." With a casual one-handed swing, Dante embedded the blade of his sword halfway through the trunk of a tree, causing everyone else to gulp nervously. "Today, you and I will have a little sparring session so that I can figure out just what you are all capable of," he continued as he used his sword as a coat rack, hanging up his trench coat. He also removed his prized handguns Ebony and Ivory from their holsters and placed them in the coat's pockets, along with his personalized shotgun dubbed Coyote-A. "After that, we will be returning here almost every day so that I may train you, both individually and as a group. By the time you have to return to school, it is my hope that you will be cohesive enough to operate smoothly as a group, but skilled enough to fight individually should one or more of you be incapacitated for whatever reason. Before we begin, I'd like to take a minute to evaluate Miss Akashiya's abilities," he finished, pointing at the pink-haired girl.

"M-me?" she stuttered. Dante nodded and beckoned her closer, and the shy girl quietly complied.

"Now, I read that you're not a big fan of fighting, is that correct?" Dante asked, to which Moka nodded; unlike her alter-ego, Outer Moka was kind and pacifistic in nature. "But I also read that your friend Mister Aono is the only one that can remove your Rosario," he continued, pointing a finger at Tsukune. "Now think about what would happen if you got in trouble and neither he nor your other friends were around to save you, you'd want to defend yourself, right?" He asked. Moka nodded slightly. "Good. Now, I want you to punch me as hard as you can right here," Dante said, pointing to the center of his sternum. The young vampire seemed uncertain as to whether she should do it.

"You can do it, Moka!" Tsukune cheered her on. Empowered by the support of her friend and crush, Moka pulled her arm back and punched Dante in the chest. The tall man looked down at her, clearly unimpressed.

"Come on, you can do better than that," he scolded. "Put some oomph into it." Once again Moka pulled her arm back and, squeezing her eyes shut in anticipation, threw another punch, this time throwing her whole body into the blow. Upon impact, Dante grunted and staggered back a step, Moka's vampiric nature giving the punch more force than one would expect from a girl her size. However, while Dante seemed to be unaffected, Moka was holding her sore fist close to her body. Tsukune immediately ran up to his friend to console her.

"Moka-san, are you all right?" he asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Tsukune," she whimpered as she held her hand close.

"Mister Aono, since you're here, would you be so kind as to remove her Rosario and return to the group, please?" Dante asked. Tsukune looked at Moka who nodded her approval. The boy removed the large silver cross from the girl's neck and dashed back to the safety of the group as Moka's youki energy poured out all at once, changing her hair from pink to silver like Dante's. The devil hunter also noted with an eyebrow quirked in interest that the unsealing seemed to make Moka's breasts and butt grow noticeably larger.

The transformation complete, Inner Moka dropped her arm, the pain in her hand gone as she opened her eyes, revealing blood-red irises and cat-like slits for pupils. Dante noted with amusement that her eyes displayed a level of disdain towards him.

"You must be the _other_ Moka that I've heard so much about," he said. "I hear that you're quite the accomplished fighter, so same deal: I want you to hit me as hard as you can." Sporting a confident smirk, Inner Moka began to do some quick stretches to prepare for the requested blow. Eager to get this waste of her time over with, the silver-haired vampire gave a swift side kick to Dante's jaw, knocking him back. Everyone observing winced as they heard the sickening snap of bone breaking.

The first sign that something was amiss was that instead of flying back several yards like most others did when on the receiving end of one of Moka's kicks, Dante merely stumbled back a few paces and turned away from his audience. The second sign was that after several mumbled curses and a sickening crack, the man turned to face his students completely unharmed.

_That's impossible, no youkai has regenerative abilities that fast_, Inner Moka thought to herself. _And he couldn't have faked the blow earlier. I heard his jaw break; I __**felt**__ his jaw break, so how is he unharmed?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Dante's chuckled.

"Not a bad hit," he said, rubbing his stiff jaw. "Think you can do it again?" This question caused Inner Moka to raise an eyebrow in confusion. _Did I damage his brain by accident?_ she wondered to herself. Nevertheless, she complied with the clearly insane man's request and made another side kick, only to hit…

Nothing. Frowning in confusion, she attacked again with a high kick, only to see Dante lean back just enough to dodge the blow. Scowling, Inner Moka combined several kicks together, only to have all of them dodged.

"Not that I don't appreciate the free show, but can we get to the actual fighting?" Dante taunted. It was then that Inner Moka remembered that she was still wearing her school uniform, which meant that her unsuccessful attacks had given her opponent a clear view of her panties. Her blood boiled at the knowledge that not only was she dealing with an annoying, uncouth waste of flesh, but a pervert as well. A swift flurry of kicks came forth along with a few punches mixed in for variety, but Dante managed to dodge every single one. What's more, he did not even have the decency to _look_ at her while he did so, instead choosing to inspect his fingernails in boredom while he weaved around her fists and feet.

"_KNOW – YOUR – PLACE!_" the vampire ground out, punctuating her each of her words with a kick, which were dodged like all others.

"Yeah, you're _really_ showing me my place," Dante drawled sarcastically as he tilted his head to dodge a straight kick to the face. Ducking under a side kick, the devil hunter reached up and slapped Inner Moka on the back of the head, forcing her to stop and glare at her opponent murderously. While the strike did not harm her it did humiliate her, and the blow to her pride cut deeper than any physical wound. "Now that you're warmed up, like we discussed, Miss Toujo?" He addressed to Ruby. Nodding, the witch turned to Tsukune.

"I am deeply sorry for this," she said as she waved her wand. Suddenly, several vines rose up from the ground and wrapped themselves around the boy, trapping him.

"Ruby-san!" Tsukune exclaimed. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I heard about you as well, Mister Aono," Dante said, catching the young man's attention. "I heard that you are fiercely protective of your friends. Unfortunately, things are probably going to get a bit rough in the next few minutes and I can't have you interfering. So just sit back and relax, and I'll deal with you in due time Now," he continued, addressing Kurumu, Mizore and Yukari as well as Inner Moka. "Now that I have the measure of your strongest fighter, it is time that I assess all of you. What I want you to do is to attack me as fiercely as you can," he explained. "I want you all to attack me as if I was attacking him," he said as he pointed a finger at Tsukune. This seemed to rile the girls up as they revealed their true forms: Kurumu's wings and tail revealed themselves and her nails extended into razor-sharp blades. Mizore's hair became frosty while ice encased her hands, forming fierce claws. The end of Yukari's wand began to pulse with magical energy.

As the other three girls stepped up alongside Inner Moka, Dante spread his legs to brace himself and held up his arms in a defensive stance. When the girls bared their claws, the silver-haired devil hunter grinned slightly and beckoned them with two fingers.

_Bring it_.

* * *

Next chapter, the beatings shall commence.

I hope I kept everyone in character here. I re-read the first chapter of Season 2 of the manga to try and get the dynamic between the girls down, but I'm not completely certain that I got it.

As you may have noticed, I dropped Yukari's distinctive "desu." Truthfully, I couldn't figure out a way to use it that didn't seem like I was just randomly dropping it at the end of sentences, so I tossed it.

Don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Rosario + Vampire or Devil May Cry.

* * *

The four girls and Dante were still as they stared each other down, each trying to measure their opponent. While the girls had seen what he was capable of against Moka, they believed that Dante could not stand up to all four of them ganging up on him at once, especially after his suggestion to attack him as viciously as possible. Dante was trying to decide which of the girls was the most dangerous, and therefore had the highest priority to be taken down:

Moka was the physically strongest of the group, but she had no extraordinary powers beyond her superhuman strength and endurance, and he could easily dodge or counter her attacks. He could afford to deal with her last.

Yukari had her magic, but beyond her penchant for smacking people over the head with heavy objects and conjuring tarot cards for her to throw her file was vague on what the extent of her abilities actually were. Definitely a wild card; it would be prudent to eliminate her early.

Mizore's ranged attacks could present a problem, but Dante was confident that he could either dodge or deflect the ice kunai that the snow girl would throw; his true concern was her ability to snap-freeze people, which would leave him in a vulnerable position. Her ability to make clones of herself could also present a problem, distracting him with decoys while the others swooped in for the kill.

Though she was a melee fighter like Moka, Kurumu's ability to fly allowed her to quickly escape beyond the range of his fists as well as giving her a greater field of attack. Her illusion powers could also restrain him and leave him vulnerable to attacks. She and Mizore would the first for Dante to take down.

Kurumu and Moka made the first move, the succubus taking to the air while the vampire charged towards Dante. Halfway to her target, Moka took a running leap and somersaulted into the air, attempting to hammer her foot into the half-devil. Instead, he dodged at the last second and grabbed her by the ankle, using her momentum to spin around and throw her away tumbling roughly across the ground until she crashed against a tree. Mizore fired icicles from her wrists while Yukari shot razor-edged tarot cards from the end of her wand, but Dante easily dove around the projectiles, grabbing two icicles from mid-air and throwing them back at his attackers; Mizore summoned a thick wall of ice in front of her to protect herself while Yukari simply dove out of the way.

Having gained sufficient height, Kurumu fell into a dive bomb position, her razor-sharp nails bared. Dante ducked under the succubus' attack, instead swiping clean through a tree. As the tree began to fall, Kurumu swooped around for another attack. Dante dodged another barrage of ice spikes from Mizore and ran up the length of the tree. When Kurumu made to slash at Dante, he leapt over her and roughly planted both of his feet into her back, sending her crashing face-first into the ground while he landed gracefully on his feet, his hair fluttering in the wind caused by the tree's impact. Kurumu tried to get back up onto her feet, but a swift kick in the gut by Dante sent her rolling away and sapped away the remainder of her strength.

Dante tried to move away, he found his feet stuck fast to the ground. He looked down to see ice surrounding his feet and holding him down. He heard the thunder of footsteps pounding the dirt and looked up to see Moka rapidly charging towards him, murder in her eyes. Pulling with all his strength, Dante wrenched one foot free, a large clod of dirt clinging to the ice on his foot. When Moka was within striking distance, he kicked up, catching the vampire in the chin and shattering the ice imprisoning his foot; fortunately for her, the ice that melted against the heat of her skin was quickly absorbed into the surrounding mound of earth before it burned her. While she was stunned, Dante freed his second foot and planted a spinning kick into Moka's stomach, sending her flying into another tree.

His patience with Mizore quickly wearing thin, Dante charged towards the snow woman, leaping around icicles along the way. Leaping up, Dante pulled his fist back to pound Mizore into the dirt, and she barely managed to conjure a shield in time. The inch-thick ice shattered like glass against the silver-haired man's fist. Not giving Mizore a chance to recover, Dante drove a knee into her abdomen, forcing the air out of her lungs and making her cough out her lollipop. While she was doubled over gasping for breath, she felt him grab her by the hair and saw a black object flying towards her. Stars filled her vision as her face was smashed into his knee. As he made to deliver the final blow, a deep _**gong**_ filled the air as a heavy brass washtub crashed onto Dante's head. Mizore wasted no time and while her opponent was stunned, she encased him in a thick block of ice.

"Moka, hurry!" the snow woman called out as Dante already struggled to free himself from his frozen prison. The silver-haired vampire unsteadily got on her feet and ran over to Dante. After raising her leg high she brought her foot down, delighted at the prospect of punishing the man that had beaten and humiliated her so, but just as her heel was about to touch the ice, a blinding flash of light filled her vision and for a split second and she was overwhelmed by such a powerful wave of youki energy that she nearly suffocated. Whatever Dante did, it forcefully shattered his prison as Moka felt the ice shrapnel brush against her face and she had to bite her lip to avoid crying out in pain. As her vision returned, momentum drove her heel deep into the cold mud where Dante once stood, but no sign of the devil hunter himself. Yukari cried out in surprise and pain when she felt a blow to the hand that held her wand, sending the enchanted stick flying. It was quickly followed by an elbow to the face for Mizore and an open-palmed strike to the solar plexus for Moka, sending both girls tumbling to the ground. Moka looked up at her assailant, his silver hair dripping with frigid water; unlike her own glare of rage, Dante only had a look of mild annoyance on his face. He raised his foot to kick her, but stopped when they both heard a roar of bestial rage coming from Tsukune and Ruby's position.

All throughout the fight, the two noncombatants observed from the sidelines. _Fight_, Ruby thought with a mental scoff, wincing when Dante delivered Moka a kick to the chin, _more like a massacre_. She watched as Dante viciously pummeled anyone in his sights, even Inner Moka who was the strongest fighter that the witch knew of, like they were merely children. Kurumu, being a flying youkai and therefore having a lower endurance than her friends, had taken the beating the worst and even when Mizore managed to encase the devil hunter in ice, the succubus had only just managed to summon the strength to push herself into a somewhat upright position and watch from her place of defeat. Ruby gasped when Dante somehow freed himself from his ice prison and dodged Moka's attack, feeling the brief wave of demonic energy wash over her. As she felt it, she thought fearfully, _Is…that his youki?_

All throughout the fight, Tsukune fought against the vines that bound him so that he could save his friends. The logical part of his mind wondered what he could to Dante when the man could easily swat aside Inner Moka like a fly, but it was silenced by the raw, emotional side of him. When Dante brought Moka to her knees and raised up his foot to stomp her, his mind became consumed with rage and gave an animalistic roar. His hair turned from dark brown to a dull gray, his brown eyes turning red and his pupils turning into slits. His transformation into a Ghoul was finished with a soft cracking sound as one of the links of his Rosario chain broke. He effortlessly broke free of Ruby's restraints and charged Dante.

Not expecting the sudden addition to the fight, Dante was barreled into by Tsukune and carried several feet until they both fell with the Ghoul on top. Without hesitation Tsukune began to pummel his fists into Dante's face, swiftly driving each clenched hand until they were covered with both Dante's blood and his own, but in his blind rage he ignored the pain. Tiring of the beating, Tsukune stood up and roughly grabbed Dante by the shirt before throwing him against a tree.

Unfortunately for Dante, that tree just happened to be the one that he had hung his coat on.

Everyone gasped when Dante was roughly impaled on his own sword, a disgusting squelching sound emanating when the handle and cross-guard of Rebellion tore through its owner and jutted out of his stomach, dripping in blood and guts. Even Inner Moka, who normally reveled in battle and the bloody carnage that ensued, felt nauseated by the sight, and Yukari had simply thrown up at the sight. However instead of giving a final shuddering gasp and slumping over dead as expected, Dante actually got livelier.

"Son of a _bitch_!" he shouted angrily before sending a glare at Tsukune. "What the hell is wrong with you, kid? Do you have any idea how much this freaking hurts?" Not waiting for an answer that would never come, Dante pushed himself forward, extracting Rebellion from the tree but still stuck within his body. With a sigh of annoyance, Dante grabbed both sides of the blade and began to push outward. Each push released a gush of blood until it was fully extracted and Dante's ruined coat fell to the ground, which was now soaked with what seemed to be nearly a gallon of blood. To everyone's shock, beneath the hole in Dante's shirt there was no gaping wound, not even a scar to indicate that he had just been viciously impaled.

Stabbing the blood-drenched sword into the ground, Dante turned back to Tsukune and shouted, "So? What do you have to say for yourself?" The Ghoul's simple mind could not formulate a response, only recognizing that its prey was somehow not dead and that it should rectify that. With a roar, Tsukune charged forward, fist raised. Dante cracked his neck and charged forward as well.

Both men's fists connected with each other's faces simultaneously, causing them both to stagger. Dante recovered first and grabbed Tsukune by the front of his shirt before roughly headbutting the teenager. He followed by a quick flurry of punches to the ribs and stomach before uppercutting Tsukune, knocking him cold. The boy's state of unconsciousness allowed the locket's magic to reassert itself, sealing the Ghoul back inside and returning him to his human form.

Dante, panting and drenched in sweat turned to the women, who all stared in shock.

"Lesson over," he muttered just loud enough for them to hear as he went over to his things. Holstering his guns, Dante gave a frustrated sigh as he inspected the large hole torn in his coat. Slipping the garment on, he flicked the blood off of Rebellion and stuck it onto his back before scooping up Tsukune in his arms and heading back towards his car. The girls soon followed, with Ruby and Mizore supporting Kurumu while Moka bent down to grab her Rosario, which had fallen out of Tsukune's pocket during the brawl.

When they made it to the car, they piled in and drove back to Devil May Cry; Ruby was carrying Yukari as the prepubescent witch was the lightest of the lot and Kurumu was in no condition to fly. When they returned to the shop Dante carried Tsukune upstairs while Ruby and Mizore helped Kurumu to the couch where she laid down.

"How are you feeling?" Yukari asked, worried for her friend.

"Like crap," the succubus moaned in pain. "I think I have some broken ribs," she continued. A few seconds later, Dante came back down with some clothes in one hand and a bowl of what looked like green orbs in the other. Setting the clothes on his desk, the half-devil went into the kitchen to grab a glass before returning.

"What's that?" Ruby asked in suspicion when Dante set the bowl and glass down.

"Green orbs," he replied as he grabbed one of the orbs, cracking it on the side of the bowl like an egg and opening it, letting the thick contents ooze into the glass. "It's a healing agent. I don't use them, but I keep them around for emergencies." He lifted the glass to Kurumu, who turned her head away. "If you drink this, it'll make you feel better," Dante promised. The blue-haired girl would normally not trust a strange drink from someone who just beat her within an inch of her life, but she was hurting badly so she took the glass and drank its contents, nearly gagging at the foul taste. True to his word, she immediately felt her injuries mending. "The same goes for all of you," Dante said, pointing the other girls that he had fought. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower," he continued as he stood up and grabbed his clothes before heading into the bathroom.

Ruby cracked a fresh orb into the glass and handed it to Mizore, who gulped it down and passed the cup back with a nauseous look on her face. The witch refilled it and handed it to Moka, who looked down at the cup's contents with apprehension. She thought about throwing it away, but the ache in her chest and abdomen prompted the vampire to drink the viscous goo. At the first mouthful, the vampire nearly spat the vile drink; it felt slimy on her tongue and had a strong bitter taste. Moka forced herself to swallow the disgusting fluid and immediately felt the pain in her body begin to dull. Hoping to finish the process as quickly as possible, Moka tipped her head back and chugged the remaining goo, trying her best not to gag, and practically threw the glass back at Ruby. As Yukari's injury was relatively minor, Ruby had healed her younger colleague's hand with magic on the way over.

"What the hell is that guy?" Kurumu exclaimed as she pushed herself up on the couch. "He did to Moka what she usually does to us!" she continued, waving at the vampire in question.

"He was fast, really fast," Mizore added as she unwrapped a fresh lollipop and slipped it into her mouth. "I think we were lucky that we managed to hit him at all today."

"And to think that he did all of that while in his human form," Ruby said, shaking her head in amazement.

"Human?" Kurumu scoffed. "Were you watching him kick our asses, Ruby? 'Human' would be the absolute _last_ thing I would describe him as!" the succubus continued.

"I agree, but did you feel his youki in that one moment?" the elder witch asked. "He was more powerful than anyone I've ever seen before, even if I've never seen the Chairman's true form. I have a feeling that if he decided to reveal his true form to you, then none of you would have survived the match," she continued with a sigh.

"Moka, what do you think?" Yukari asked, causing all heads to turn towards the vampire. Moka scowled and pulled out her Rosario from her pocket.

"I think I'm tired," she said as she clipped the silver cross back onto her choker, sealing herself once more. Her body slumped over onto the couch unconscious as Outer Moka regained control and awoke a few seconds later.

"What happened?" she asked in a daze. While the others explained to the pink-haired girl what happened, Inner Moka was left alone with her thoughts.

The proud vampire felt few things beyond anger and annoyance to those around her, although she was building a sort of camaraderie with those her alter-ego called friends, as well as feelings towards Tsukune that she was unable to describe, but never before had she felt the sensation that she was feeling now, a feeling that she was quickly growing to hate: The all-consuming shame of failure. Never before had she lost a battle, even though on a rare occasion she was forced to accept assistance, and she never challenged her older sisters, knowing that they could effortlessly beat her. But this man, even with herself and three others bearing down on him at once, he beat them with hardly any effort. Even though Tsukune in his berserker rage had inflicted what would be a mortal wound for even the toughest of youkai, Dante had shrugged it off and beaten the Ghoul into submission as well. He had shown them all their places, and Inner Moka felt her ego shatter at the knowledge that she was no longer at the top of her own little world.

But as per the laws by which she had been raised, she would submit to the one that had proven himself her superior. She would listen to what he had to say, she would learn what he had to teach her, she would mend her wounded pride, and perhaps one day she would fight the devil hunter once more.

And if that day ever comes, she vowed to emerge victorious. Her pride demanded it.

* * *

And that was chapter three. Hope you liked it.

I originally wanted to write it so that the girls were completely incapable of touching Dante until Tsukune sucker-punched him, but I couldn't think of a way to do that without making them look like complete idiots.

Don't forget to review!


	4. Chapter 4

This will probably be the last chapter for this fic for a while so I can concentrate on my other stuff. This is also an exposition chapter, so you may want to keep some sugar and/or caffeine on standby.

I do not own Devil May Cry or Rosario + Vampire.

* * *

Mikogami fought the urge to sigh in irritation at the sight before him. As Tsukune's Aono's parents were human, it was easy enough to write a letter saying that their son was enrolled in a special summer program and would not be able to write over the summer. The parents of his friends however were not so easy to placate. They had come to him demanding to know why their daughters were not returning home, and thus he found himself sitting in front of Tsurara Shirayuki, Ageha Kurono, Fujiko Sendo and Lord Issa Shuzen.

"Headmaster, perhaps you could explain where exactly our daughters are?" Tsurara asked. She spoke in a kind, motherly tone, but there was an unmistakable chill in it that hinted at her anger. Ageha and Fujiko nodded in agreement. The hooded being felt irked by being harried for questions in his own office, but he figured that it would be quicker and easier to simply answer their questions and make them leave so that he could get back to repairing his school.

"As I have already told you," he said patiently, "your children helped to stop some unsavory individuals from causing havoc at this school. Unfortunately, there were some concerns for their safety, so I arranged to have them take lessons at a secure location to learn some extracurricular skills. Rest assured, they will return to school on schedule."

"But why can't we know how to get in touch with them?" Ageha asked, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "We're their parents; don't we at least have that right?" Mikogami fought off another sigh; he never did like dealing with weeping parents.

"I'm sorry, Missus Kurono, but for their safety I simply cannot allow it," he said. Lord Shuzen finally lost his temper and slammed his cane into the ground, causing the women to jump.

"Enough of your games, Mikogami," the vampire snarled. "I demand to know where Moka is!" The three women immediately began to discreetly edge away from the man; Lord Shuzen tightened his grip on his cane as he realized his mistake, but maintained his face of cold arrogance. Mikogami for his part was equally annoyed and amused. _It's clear who Moka's inner self inherits her arrogance from_, he thought dryly.

"Lord Shuzen, I understand your concern," he said. "However, the more people know about your children's whereabouts, the more likely it is that someone who may wish them harm may find out as well. Do you really want to risk compromising their safety to exchange a few letters?" The women hung their heads in shame when they realized that he had a point. "I give you my word that they will be returned to Youkai Academy safely at the beginning of next term. You may leave now." As the four parents stood up and bowed before turning to leave, Mikogami added, "Except for you, Lord Shuzen. I'd like to have a word with you in private." The vampire lord scowled but remained where he stood while the others left.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about?" Lord Shuzen asked.

"Your concern for your daughter's welfare is commendable, Issa," Mikogami said. "However, you overstep your place by _demanding_ anything of me, within my own realm no less." The hooded man looked up at the vampire with glowing eyes. "Just because you are the mate of Lady Bloodriver, it does not make you the steward of her entitlements in her absence. Am I clear?" he asked.

"Very," Lord Shuzen replied, brushing back a stray lock of hair. "I apologize, my lord. I will not make that mistake again."

"I hope not," the Great Dark Lord said. "You are free to leave," he said with a dismissive wave. Giving a final bow, Lord Shuzen turned and exited the office. As Mikogami turned to his paperwork, he idly noticed that it had been two days since he left the merry band of six in Dante's care. As he worked, the headmaster wondered how they were doing thus far.

* * *

The first thing that Tsukune noticed was the pain: His entire body seemed to throb with a dull ache, like he was one giant bruise. The second thing he noticed what that he seemed to be lying in a bed, one that he did not recognize. The third thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by his makeshift harem. They were asleep, but his waking groan stirred them from their slumber. Moka blinked her eyes sleepily, but immediately perked up when she saw her friend awake.

"Tsukune!" she cried out, jumping on top of the boy in excitement, only to immediately jump back off when he cried out in pain. "I'm so sorry, Tsukune!" she gasped in apology, recognizing her error. Tsukune tried to mumble out a response, but was drowned out by Kurumu.

"Are you trying to kill him, Moka?" the succubus accused, leading Moka to hastily defend herself. This quickly dissolved into a shouting match with Ruby vainly trying to play the role of mediator; had he not been in the middle of experiencing a body-wide migraine at the time, Tsukune would have gladly helped the witch. As it was now, however he simply grabbed a pillow and covered his head to drown out the loud noises. The argument was quickly silenced by a shrill whistle. Tsukune removed the pillow from his head to see Dante standing by the doorway with a bemused expression on his face.

"I'm guessing from the racket that you're making that the kid's awake," he said. "How you feelin'?" he asked Tsukune.

"Been better," the teenager groaned.

"Well, get used to that feeling, kid, 'cause you're going to be feeling it a lot this summer," Dante said with a chuckle, ignoring the withering glares the women sent his way. A faint ringing from the telephone downstairs interrupted the conversation. "Duty calls," Dante sighed as he left to answer the call. With some effort and help from his friends, Tsukune managed to pull himself into an upright position.

"What happened?" the boy asked. "The last thing I remember is the fight," he continued as he held his head in confusion.

"Well…" Moka began, tapping her index fingers together nervously. "When Dante-sensei was fighting us, you kind of…lost your temper."

"She means that you turned into a Ghoul," Mizore added bluntly.

"What?" Tsukune asked in shock, quickly checking the chain on his wrist to confirm the snow girl's statement. True to her word, another one of the locket's links was cracked. "What happened then?" he demanded. At his query, all five of the girls suddenly looked away nervously and even began to look slightly ill. "What did I do?" Tsukune pressed, panic creeping into his voice.

"You threw Dante-sensei into a tree," Kurumu said quickly, still looking uneasy. Tsukune figured that something more must have happened to cause this reaction, but decided that it was probably for the best that he did not know. The girls were spared further interrogation by the sound of Dante stomping up the stairs and poking his head into the room.

"Hey, I just got a job, so I'll be out for a while," he informed his guests. "There's pizza in the fridge if you're hungry. Be back soon," he continued as he departed. A minute later they heard the sound of the shop's doors opening and closing, followed by a motorcycle roaring off into the distance. Once the vehicle's rumble had died away, the six Japanese residents looked at each other in uncertainty.

"What do we do now?" Yukari asked.

"We could look around," Mizore suggested. "Get a feel for where everything is." Lacking any better suggestions, the group agreed with the snow girl's plan and helped Tsukune out of bed. He managed to slowly but steadily shuffle out of the room on his own, but still required help navigating the stairs.

The first place that they explored was the kitchen. Mizore opened the fridge and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I guess Dante-sensei really likes pizza," she quipped. Half the fridge was occupied by stacked pizza boxes; the other half was completely filled with beer bottles, along with a couple of soda bottles. With no one feeling particularly hungry at the moment, Mizore closed the refrigerator and the group moved on. With nothing else on the first floor besides the main lobby area and the bathroom, the group carefully helped Tsukune back up the stairs. There were only three rooms in the upstairs area: The room that Tsukune had woken up in, which judging by its size was the master bedroom, a spare bedroom, and the room with the "hazardous materials" sign that Dante had warned them about. Even though he was relatively insensitive compared to his companions, Tsukune felt the powerful youki energy radiating from behind the door.

"Do you think we should look inside?" Moka asked nervously, clutching to Tsukune in fright.

"W-well, Dante-sensei _did_ say that we could look, as long as we didn't touch anything," Yukari pointed out, although she seemed unsure as well. As the oldest of the group, Ruby took the initiative. Slowly she reached out and grabbed the doorknob to turn it. As she opened the door, the contained youki energy poured out with such force that the youkai teenagers felt as if they were about to be bowled over. Once their senses had become acclimated to the overwhelming force, the group of six cautiously stepped in.

The room was roughly twenty feet square and completely devoid of furniture save for a few tables pressed against the walls. What caught their attention however was what else was in the room: Weapons of all shapes and sizes lined the walls and tables in the room. While many of the items were swords, there were several that defied reason like a large metallic briefcase, a wicked-looking guitar that had arcs of electricity flowing up its strings, and a strange evil-looking skull with a pair of featherless wings and oddly enough, a rose clutched between its pointed teeth. Kurumu felt a strange connection to the guitar, an aura that seemed familiar but she could not recall why. Meanwhile, Mizore was drawn to a nunchaku that seemed to radiate cold.

"What are these things?" Ruby asked, fear and awe filling her voice in equal measure.

"Look brother, we have guests," a voice said behind the group, causing them all to scream in terror and spin towards the source of the sound.

"Loud ones too," a slightly deeper voice replied. The teenage monsters franticly looked around for the source of the voices. "Up here," the second voice said, forcing them to look straight ahead to see two crossed, jagged scimitars with small, bald heads on their pommels, equal in form except for their colors: One was a fiery orange while the other was a turquoise blue.

"Greetings," said the blue sword, its mouth flapping with its words, "I am Rudra."

"And I am Agni," said the red sword.

"W-what are you?" Kurumu asked, trembling in fear.

"We are the Firestorm Brothers," Agni said with a hint of pride in his voice. The teenagers' fear was replaced by looks of confusion.

"I do not think that's what they meant, brother," Rudra said.

"What do you mean?" Agni asked, confused by his brother's statement.

"Never mind," Rudra huffed. "We are devil arms," the blue scimitar said to the youkai below him.

"Devil arms?" Tsukune asked and all heads turned towards Yukari, silently questioning the resident genius.

"I've never heard of them," the young witch said with a shrug.

"Never heard of devil arms?" Agni asked in surprise.

"That is strange," Rudra continued, "considering that you have devil blood yourselves." This time it was the youkai who expressed their surprise.

"We're not devils!" Moka shouted out, though her newfound confidence quickly dissolved. "…I think," she added uncertainly. The two swords were momentarily silent as they processed the outburst.

"If you are not demons, then what are you?" Agni asked.

"We're youkai!" Yukari declared proudly.

"'Youkai?'" Agni repeated, pondering the unfamiliar word. "I do not know this word. What of you, brother?" he asked his twin.

"I too have not heard of it," Rudra replied. "However, they do not seem to be from the same land as Master Dante; perhaps youkai is simply their word for demon," the blue sword reasoned.

"Possibly," the red sword acquiesced.

"Wait, _'Master'_ Dante?" Ruby repeated in confusion. Again the two swords were momentarily silent while they formulated a response.

"Perhaps an explanation of what devil arms are is in order," Rudra finally said. The young youkai nodded their heads in agreement. "In demonic society, your social rank is directly determined by how powerful you are; the stronger you are, the more respect you command," he began his lecture. The youkai nodded their heads in understanding; this was how their world worked as well.

"Generally, when powerful devils are slain in battle," Agni continued the lesson, "their souls are infused into weapons called devil arms and are bound to serve the victor until disposed of."

"Or they in turn are defeated," Rudra added.

"That's horrible!" Tsukune burst out. Though he was now technically a youkai, he was still mentally human and thus found the idea of forced slavery abhorrent.

"That's how things are done in our world, Tsukune," Mizore said, causing him to look at her in shock. "The weak serve the strong; that's how it's always been," the snow girl continued nonchalantly.

"We are proud to serve Master Dante," Agni said before Tsukune could respond. "We met on the field of battle and emerged victorious. By right, we will serve him faithfully and without question."

"So, all these…devil arms are people that Dante-san's defeated?" Ruby asked, feeling slightly faint at the implications; there must be over a dozen weapons stored in that room!

"Not necessarily," Rudra said. "For example, these are me and my brother's true forms, and some of these were already weapons when Master Dante found them."

"But he always passed some sort of trial to gain their control," Agni continued. "Master Dante is a powerful one indeed to command the loyalty and respect of all of these devils."

"Except Beowulf," Rudra quipped.

"True," his brother agreed. The overwhelming demonic energy was beginning to affect the youkai, so Ruby decided that it was time to leave.

"Thank you for the lesson Agni-san, Rudra-san," the witch said, bowing quickly to each of them, "but we really must be going now."

"Very well," Agni said. "It has been good talking to you," he continued.

"We very rarely get any visitors," Rudra continued. "Please come again sometime." Ruby did not reply as the six quickly vacated the room and closed the door, plunging the room in darkness.

"A strange bunch," Agni mused. "What do you think they are here for?" he asked his brother.

"I do not know," Rudra replied. "Students of Master Dante's perhaps?"

"Perhaps."

Outside, the five teenagers were gasping for breath, glad to be free from the oppressive atmosphere of the room.

"All that power in one room," Kurumu gasped. "It's one thing to beat all of us, but to be able to control all those weapons? Just how powerful is this guy?" she demanded half-rhetorically.

"Don't know," Moka murmured as she breathed in Tsukune's scent. Almost two days without feeding had left her starving, and his scent was impossible to resist. "I'm sorry, Tsukune," she muttered as she bared her fangs.

"Wha-?" the boy asked dumbly. Before he or any of his friends could react, Moka chomped down on his neck and began to suck his blood.

"_Chuuuuuu~!_"

* * *

And there it is, an infodump chapter starring our favorite chatterboxes. I used Agni and Rudra because while it's popular fanon that the devil arms can communicate telepathically, I think only they have been confirmed in canon to be able to talk, and Dante doesn't seem like the kind of guy to sit down and tell stories.

I hope that it wasn't too boring for you. Don't forget to leave a review!


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Rosario + Vampire or Devil May Cry.

* * *

It was late when Dante returned home that night, Rebellion casually propped against his shoulder. By then, his guests had already gone to sleep, and he noticed that two of the pizza boxes that once occupied his fridge had been emptied and had found a new home in the waste basket. Propping his sword against his desk, Dante went to grab another box as well as a couple of bottles of beer before settling down to clean his guns. Once his guns sparkled like new and the third pizza box joined its brethren in the trash, Dante quickly brushed his teeth and removed his coat and boots before carelessly flopping onto the couch in the lobby, allowing sleep to overtake him.

He was awoken far earlier than he normally did by the sound of sizzling and the aroma of bacon. Hauling himself off his impromptu bed, Dante shuffled into the kitchen to see Moka and Kurumu working over the stove, both wearing frilly pink aprons over their clothes. Mizore was sitting at the far side of the table, sitting as far away from the stove as possible without being too conspicuous. Dante found it odd, but shrugged it off as an aversion of the heat from the stove due to her snow girl nature.

"Good morning, Sensei!" Moka exclaimed, taking notice of their now-awake host. "We figured that we should cook you breakfast as thanks for letting us stay here." Looking at the table, Dante noticed rather full plates piled with bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and other assorted breakfast foods.

"Thanks," Dante said simply, mildly surprised at the idea of someone actually cooking for him. His simple reply seemed to satisfy the pink-haired vampire, who turned back to her cooking. Once the cooking was done and the group had eaten their fill, they traveled back to the fenced-off part of the forest where they were yesterday. "Okay kids, from what I've heard, you've pissed off some pretty nasty people," Dante said as he speared Rebellion into the ground and draped his coat over it. "I have five months to train you, and hopefully by the time you head back to school, you'll be the biggest badasses on campus. You two, up first," he said, pointing towards Tsukune and Moka.

After showing the two teenagers how to properly stretch their muscles, Dante began to drill them in a few basic blocking and striking techniques. Paying particular attention to Tsukune, he emphasized striking at weak points like the eyes, neck and joints, as well as how to use an opponent's energy against them. For two hours he worked them, allowing only brief respites to replenish the fluids that they sweated out.

Allowing the two teenagers to rest, Dante called Mizore forward. He taught the snow girl how to use her snow clones to distract her opponents while she snuck around for the killing blow. He also taught her that instead of using her powers to fix an opponent's feet in place – a technique that he had demonstrated was quite possible to overpower – to instead cover the entire ground in a thin layer of ice so that their footing would be unsure, as well as how to throw snow flurries into their faces to blind them. For another two hours, Dante relentlessly drilled the girl on what he taught her.

Yukari was the next target of Dante's instruction. For the young witch, he focused on improving the speed and accuracy of her ranged offensive spells like her conjured tarot cards. Using his sword to carve crude figures into several trees at various heights, Dante called out which target he wanted Yukari to hit. Though her marksmanship was well enough at first, at time went on Dante began to call out his targets with increasing frequency until the young witch had only a few brief seconds to attack a target before she had to find the next one, and her accuracy likewise suffered.

After Yukari had been firing at targets almost nonstop for two hours, Dante declared a lunch break; he opened his car trunk to reveal a cooler filled with pizza. After they had eaten their fill, Dante requested that Inner Moka be brought forth. He mentally noted that while the silver-haired vampire still had an air of arrogance about her, she seemed to show more respect towards him; he shrugged it off as unimportant and began his lesson.

He lectured that her kicks, while powerful were also slow, telegraphing her moves to her opponents and giving them ample time to dodge. Dante demonstrated his own technique by sending several swift kicks towards a nearby tree, his leg perceived as little more than a red blur and leaving a deep dent in the side of the tree. Inner Moka raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise, impressed by the speed and power that he had shown. He told Moka to practice on another tree, but try as she might, she could not bring her speed up to more than two or three kicks per second. By the time her session was over, her legs burned in exhaustion as she forced her muscles to exert themselves for far longer than they were used to.

Finally, it was Kurumu's turn. The blue-haired succubus stepped up with apprehension as Dante thought about what he would make her do, unfamiliar with flying humanoids insofar as how to most efficiently slay them. He finally decided on trying to improve her speed and maneuverability by making her fly through the trees at increasingly faster velocities. By the time she was allowed to rest, her wings had become so exhausted that they felt like they were about to burst into flames.

After allowing them a brief rest, Dante ordered his students to run the perimeter of the property. Though they initially groaned and cried out in protest, when Dante hefted his sword in a threatening manner, they decided that it would be unwise to further antagonize him and did as they were told.

After two hours of running, Dante finally decided to end things for the day and head home. Ruby ended up carrying Yukari on her back as Kurumu was too tired to fly. By the time they returned to _Devil May Cry_, the sun had begun to set on the horizon, and everyone was so sore that they barely had the strength to drag themselves inside and into the shower. As they went in one by one, they began to feel slightly better as the hot water washed away the dirt and sweat and soothed their aching bodies. After a dose of "medicine," courtesy of more green orbs supplied by Dante, they dragged themselves upstairs and into bed, quickly drifting into sleep.

This routine continued almost every day for the next month, which each Saturday having an "exam" in the form of all of the teenagers, Tsukune included, ganging up on Dante like the first day, and allowed Sunday to rest. He started to introduce using and defending against weapons in Tsukune and Moka's routines. He also began bringing out his Devil Arms to add difficulty to the other youkai's sessions, such as using either Cerberus or Ifrit to help Mizore train against those with similar or opposing powers to her. He also used more mundane methods, such as using a pocket mirror to blind Kurumu, or flicking pebbles at Yukari in order to distract her and throw her aim off. After the first couple of weeks, they began to notice a change in themselves: They were moving a_ bit_ faster than they were before, or firing their projectiles a _bit _more accurately, or not being _quite _so agonizingly sore at the end of the day. However, it seemed to make no difference to Dante, who still managed to beat them all with aggravating ease.

Halfway through the fifth week, as they pulled in front of _Devil May Cry_, they spotted an unfamiliar motorcycle parked by the door. While the foreigners did not know who the vehicle belonged to, Dante clearly did if the grimace on his face was any indication. He pushed open the unlocked door to see his uninvited guest bent over the pool table, knocking a ball into one of the holes. After taking a moment to admire the visitor's rather shapely rear end, Dante cleared his throat loudly.

"Y'know, Lady, when I gave you a key to my place, it wasn't an invitation to come in and mess with my stuff whenever you feel like it," he said. The visitor stood up and cracked her neck before turning to face her host, and Tsukune found himself having to pinch his nose to keep blood from oozing out at the sight. It was a woman in her early thirties; she was tall and with a curvaceous body that was barely concealed by her white pinstripe blouse and matching shorts. Her ebony hair was cut short and her eyes were concealed behind a pair of metallic orange shades. Several guns and ammo pouches were wrapped around her waist, giving the appearance of a skirt. Combined with her knee-high combat boots, the entire ensemble gave her the appearance of a particularly militant Catholic schoolgirl. Next to her, leaning against the pool table was a large black rocket launcher with a wicked-looking bayonet on the end, the name _Kalina Ann_ etched into the side in loopy silver writing.

"Oh Dante," Lady said, the tone of her voice paradoxically equal parts teasing and disdainful, "I'm sure that's _exactly_ what you had in mind when you gave me that key. And besides, as much as you owe me, I practically own this dump anyway." Ignoring Dante's cry of indignation against the slight against his establishment, she noticed the group of teenagers behind him and quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I'm training them," Dante answered her unasked question. "Favor for someone I knew back in the day." Ruby immediately stepped forward and bowed her head slightly.

"Hello, Miss," the elder witch greeted. "I am Ruby Toujo of Youkai Academy. Pleased to meet you," she continued as she extended her hand in greeting. Lady looked at the hand for a moment before smiling slightly.

"Hi, I'm Lady," she introduced herself as she took the offered hand. "'Academy', huh? I never figured Dante for the academic type." She then said something in Japanese, which Ruby responded to likewise. Lady said something else that caused both women to laugh. The teenagers began to laugh too, but were quickly silenced by a death glare from Dante; the man was clearly upset that he could not understand what his fellow devil hunter was saying, but had a good feeling that it was something unflattering about him.

"_So_," he said loudly, interrupting the two women's laughter, "what exactly brings you here to my humble 'dump,' as you so kindly called it?" he asked as he leaned against his desk. Lady shot him a glare for his rudeness before she began to explain.

"I got a call this morning from LCPD," she said. "Last night, the night-shift workers at a construction site downtown died under suspicious circumstances." She paused as she looked at their audience; at Dante's nod of approval, she continued. "They were either eviscerated or dismembered."

"Sounds like the work of some psycho to me," Dante said with a shrug. "Why do the cops think that there's a demonic influence?"

"Because," Lady said as she tugged out a manila envelope that Dante had unwittingly sat on, "as it turns out, one of the workers brought his gun to work, and managed to get a few shots off before his death." Pulling out a crime scene photo from the envelope, she presented it to Dante. "Look familiar?" Dante took the photo and examined it. It was a photo of a pile of sand; not out of place at a construction site. However, what caught his interest was what else was in the photo: A tattered black hooded cloak and a large, wicked-looking scythe. _Hell Prides_, the devil hunter thought to himself. "I figure that it should be a cakewalk for someone of your skill," Lady added.

"Well, if it's so easy, why don't _you_ do it?" Dante challenged, handing the photo back.

"Because I have another job on the other end of town, and I can't do both on the same night," Lady explained, slipping the photo back into its receptacle. "LCPD's willing to pay ten grand for the job; as a favor, I'll knock ten percent of that off what you owe me. You interested?" she asked, holding the envelope towards Dante. Dante sighed; one thousand dollars was barely a drop in the bucket from what he owed her, but he needed the money, and he had been meaning to find an easy job for the kids to practice what they had been learning on.

"Fifty percent," he counter-offered as he made to grab the envelope, only to have Lady pull it out of his reach.

"Twenty-five, or I take my chances with someone else," she said with a tone of finality. Dante gave a frustrated sigh, but nodded in acceptance.

"All right, twenty-five it is," he said. Smiling in victory, Lady slapped the crime documents into Dante's hand and slung her rocket launcher over her shoulder.

"Pleasure doing business with you Dante," she said. Turning to Dante's guests, she bid them farewell and left _Devil May Cry_, her motorcycle roaring off into the distance. Flopping into his chair, Dante took out the documents and began to study them.

"Dante-sensei, who was that?" Moka asked.

"She's a…" the half-devil paused as he searched for the right word to describe Lady. While "acquaintance" did not seem right, after all the times she shot him, ripped him off, and generally made his life miserable, "friend" did not seem right either. "…Colleague," he eventually decided on. "Nothing you need to worry about." He frowned as he looked at the photos of the victims. While a lifetime of slaying demons had long ago desensitized him to the sight of blood and gore, he still felt slightly bothered at the sight of the remains of a demon attack. Shaking away the troublesome feelings, Dante set the photos face-down and plastered a cheerful smile. "Rest up kids, we're taking a road trip tonight." His announcement was met by a chorus of groans. "C'mon, we're saving lives here! Think of it as your practical exam." Dante glanced at the small clock on his desk and mentally calculated how long it would take to get to the construction site. "We have three hours before we need to leave," he said, kicking back in his chair. "I suggest you rest up."

* * *

Four hours later, Dante and his group of protégés found themselves at the now-abandoned construction site. As they stepped out of the car, they could feel a presence in the air. It was similar to youki energy, but different, more evil.

"So how would these…'Hell Prides' show up anyway?" Ruby asked. "And why here?"

"The barriers that separate our world from theirs are full of little faults and imperfections," Dante explained as he gave his sword a quick inspection. "While the big names can't get through without assistance, small fry like these guys can slip through no problem. Unfortunately for those workers, this happens to be the location of one of those faults." Drawing a pair of night vision binoculars from his coat pocket, Dante gazed over the construction yard, where he saw several Hell Prides, skulking about the grounds in search of victims. High above them, a solitary bat fluttered over the area. Though with its large, round, brown-furred body, it looked more like a meat bun with wings than an actual bat.

"Hell Prides," the bat announced in a high, nasally voice. "Slow, dumb demons that manifest themselves through sand. Though they are weak, they can overwhelm a foe through their numbers." Spying a moth, the bat abandoned its dialogue in pursuit of its dinner.

"You guys say something?" Dante asked, turning to the group behind him. They shook their heads in denial, causing him to frown. He could have sworn he heard someone talking. Shrugging it off as unimportant, he returned to his surveillance. "There seems to be a dozen or so Prides down there; easy pickings for you guys. I'll be observing in case you run into any problems." Tsukune plucked off Moka's Rosario, unleashing her inner self before they marched down to face their quarry. Behind them, Dante furrowed his brow in concern. The demonic presence seemed too thick for just a handful of Hell Prides. _Probably a Vanguard lurking around somewhere_, he thought to himself. I'll _have to keep an eye out_.

The Youkai group tried to sneak into the construction yard, hoping to catch the Hell Prides by surprise, but one of the demons spotted them and alerted its comrades. It was quickly encased in a block of ice by Mizore and promptly shattered, courtesy of a kick from Moka. As the other Hell Prides surrounded them, Tsukune grabbed the fallen demon's scythe and held it up in a defensive pose; he was surprised at how light the seemingly unwieldy weapon felt.

Moka took a running start and jump-kicked the first Hell Pride before gracefully ducking under the swipe of the second. She delivered a swift kick into the back of the second demon, sending it flying into a steel girder so hard that it exploded in a cloud of dust; she followed it up with a hammer kick to the head of the first Hell Pride, destroying it. Mizore used her powers to bring forth spikes of ice from the ground, impaling her foes. Kurumu took to the air, out of reach of the demons' scythes, before swooping in behind them and bisecting them with her talons. Yukari stunned one with a brass pot to the head before riddling it with cards, while Ruby crushed three more with her powers. Tsukune used his newly-acquired weapon to defend against the attacks of the final Hell Pride. He fared decently enough, though his enemy's blade often came too close to his flesh for comfort. Managing to parry his foe's attack, he decapitated it with a single swing, causing it to burst in a cloud of dust.

"Was that it?" Inner Moka asked with a yawn, whether out of tiredness or boredom was unclear. "A child could have taken care of them." Any reply to her comment was silenced when a large, swirling portal appeared before them, causing everyone to back away in caution. Suddenly, a large cloaked figure wielding an equally enormous scythe burst forth from the portal, before being stopped with a loud clang by a red blur.

"Stay back!" Dante ordered. "You're not skilled enough to take on a guy this tough." Hanging from a high beam, the meat-bun bat observed the battle.

"Hell Vanguard," the creature said to itself. "The Elite warriors of the Hell Demons. With a powerful scythe and the ability to teleport at will, they are dangerous foes to face." Dante's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. _Okay, I __**know**__ I heard something that time_. That was something that he could worry about later, though; right now, he had a demon to dispatch.

"Kids, sit back and watch how the pros do it," he said before launching his assault. He was relentless, his sword little more than a silver blur as it struck against the Hell Vanguard. With a fierce stab, he pushed the demon back before drawing his pistols and peppering it with lead. Knowing that it could not attack from its current location, a portal opened up beneath the Hell Vanguard and it began to sink into the void. "Oh no, you don't!" Dante shouted, dashing forward and knocking it into the air with an upwards swing, causing the portal to vanish. Leaping into the air, he slashed at the vulnerable demon a few times before sending it smashing into the ground. He finished the broken reaper with a well-placed shot to the head, causing it to dissolve into a pile of dust. "That's the last of them," Dante said as he placed Rebellion on his back and dusted off his hands. "Just gotta make sure that the fault's sealed, and we're done for the night."

The battle concluded, the mean-bun bat had no more reason to stick around, but gave a final parting comment: "Today's battle took three minutes and forty-two seconds," it declared as it flew off into the night.

"Okay seriously, does no one else hear that?"

* * *

Nope, I'm not dead! I do however, turn another year older this weekend, so I'm excited about that.

Don't forget to leave a review!


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